Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has come to rely on an old basketball chestnut as a catch-all explainer for why he made the now-infamous Luka Dončić trade. “Defense wins championships,” Harrison said Monday. “And we’re going to hang our hat on defense.” It’s a often-used expression around basketball. But is it right anymore?

The Dallas Mavericks are still recovering from the Luka Doncic trade, and there's no telling when everybody will truly get over the move. General manager Nico Harrison has taken the heat for the move, and has probably heard ‘Firo Nico' chants from the day that the trade was made.

For only the third time since Feb. 1 but second time in a week, Nico Harrison took a few questions about what made him rip Luka Doncic from the fabric of the local sports community. He didn’t tell us much we didn’t already know Monday,